Fellow bloggers, be careful with what you write...

Sky News.com - 1:54pm UK, Wednesday August 19, 2009
"A former Vogue cover girl has won the right to make Google reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who called her a "skank".
Liskula Cohen, 37, was the target of a barrage of alleged insults on the Skanks in NYC blog. The Canadian-born model, determined to sue for defamation, launched a court bid in January to find out who was responsible.

In an unprecedented ruling, Manhattan Judge Joan Madden said Google must reveal the blogger's name, The Sydney Morning Post (SMP) reported. The judge said it was the blonde's right to take legal action against the author, who wrote on Google-owned blogger.com, Live News.com said. The search engine giant will now be forced to disclose the identity, presumably when the case next returns to court.

Judge Madden rejected claims by the blogger's lawyer that the comments were mere "trash talk" and only factual assertions could be considered libelous. Cohen told the New York Post: "When I saw that blog, it was awful. All I can say for this person is, I really, truly hope that they have more in their life than this." Her lawyer Steven Wagner hoped the decision would send a message that the internet was "not a free-for-all" and said: "Everybody is waiting to see who this coward is."

The blogger's lawyer Anne Salisbury warned the ruling would open the "floodgates" for anyone who has been the subject of a nasty comment online to take legal action.